For the last three years, six semesters to be precise, I have co-taught a 400-level required journalism course with John Dille, the wise man in the video above.

John and I have made a great team.

We teach a course about the Business & Future of Journalism. John is awesome talking about ‘Big B’ Business. And I share lots of information about what newsrooms are doing these days to attempt to guarantee that they’ll be around in the Future.

John had taught the class on his own for two semesters before I signed on. It didn’t take long for us to get in step with each other, using some of what John had taught before and adding new wrinkles to the class syllabus. The topic is a moving target and we are constantly updating our class content. But even so, after six semesters together, we’ve gotten into a pretty smooth routine.

We were lucky to have each other.

I was very lucky to teach with such a caring, passionate educator and journalist. And I think the best students leave our class understanding that too.

In the final minutes of the final day of each semester, we offer some last words of advice to our students. I tell tell them not to be afraid to change directions along the way and to remember that they are snowballs – always accumulating knowledge, experience, skills that will serve them well no matter what they do.

John tells them the story caught on video below.

Because Spring 2014 at the Cronkite School of Journalism has been our final semester (we’re going to take a little break), I was moved to record the tale that John always shares during these last minutes that we still have the students’ attention. It’s a winner. Even graduating seniors stop and take note. You should watch it.

PHOENIX – While it might seem like the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is limited to Europe, it could be just a matter of time before we start seeing effects of it here in the U.S.
Robin Phillips, the Web managing editor for the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, sat down to discuss the issue with Tara Hitchcock. | Full story: Local expert breaks down News of the World scandal and its effects in the U.S.

I enjoyed the process of getting ready for this interview and felt good going through it — not always an easy thing for we print journalists. We’re not used to being in the spotlight, or coming across as “experts.”

I taught six webinars this week, two each: Social Media 01 (the basics), Social Media 202 (tips for journalists using social media as a research tool), and Social Media 303 (cutting through the clutter).

The sessions were very popular and well received. And it looks like Jason, put it to work immediately.

Want to watch recordings of the three webinars? Check them out here at the website of my day job.

We got some great buzz on the release of our research into the confidence of U.S. business editors and reporters.

Almost two-thirds of business journalists report that the amount of business coverage at their organization has stayed the same or increased in the past five years, according to a new survey commissioned by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

The results were far more optimistic than we anticipated. And they suggested that newsrooms, at least the business desks, are not as gloomy as journalists have been suggesting.

• Six out of 10 are doing more or about the same level of investigative journalism.
• Nine out of 10 have learned new skills.
• Three-fourths say their workload has increased and they use social media.
• About half blog, file first for the Web and cover more beats.

It was a lot of fun to put together this package. The report, five quick questions answered by Reynolds President Andrew Leckey, a slideshow of the Q&As, and an analysis from journalism professor Tim McGuire.

…. Robin Phillips, Web managing editor for the Reynolds Center, said the seminar will provide journalists with tools to understand issues in covering business environmentalism, track money being used for environmental pursuits, learn about green legislation and recognize “greenwashing,” which is when companies promote themselves as “green” companies to a higher degree than their actual practice of environmentalism.

“We’ll attract some attention because nobody else is doing something quite like this,” she said. “Also, ASU is recognized as a leader … in green economy and sustainability, so it kind of reinforces what ASU stands for overall.” …